Phineas Riall

Phineas Riall (15 December 1775-10 November 1850) was a general of Great Britain who served as Commanding Officer of the Niagara Peninsula from December 1813 to July 1814 and Governor of Grenada from 1816 to 1825. He fought in the Napoleonic Wars at the Capture of Martinique and the War of 1812 at the Battle of Chippewa and the Battle of Lundy's Lane, where he was captured and paroled.

Biography
Phineas Riall was born in County Clonmel in Ireland, a province of Great Britain, to a wealthy Protestant landowning family. In 1794 he enlisted in the British Army at the age of nineteen and served in the West Indies, taking part in the capture of Martinique in 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1810 he commanded a brigade in the capture of Guadeloupe, and over the next two years he was promoted to Major General while back at home in England.

Some time after, he was dispatched to take command of British forces in Montreal and in 1813 he and General Gordon Drummond invaded New York from Canada. At the Battle of Lewiston on 19 December 1813, the British army brushed aside weak militia and burned down several villages in revenge for the United States' burning of Newark. At Buffalo and Black Rock, the British wreaked more havoc. However, at the 5 July 1814 Battle of Chippewa he used anti-militia tactics against American regulars under Winfield Scott, costing him hundreds of troops.

On 25 July, Riall fought at the Battle of Lundy's Lane under General Drummond, but was wounded in the arm early in the battle and paroled. Sent back to England, he was appointed Governor of Grenada from 1816 to 1825. He died in Paris, France in 1850.